Only Connect presenter Victoria Cohen forced to make apology after charity complains of scar comment

Only Connect presenter Victoria Cohen has been forced to make an apology after her show described scars as ‘marks of shame’ following a complaint from a charity.

The broadcaster who hosts the popular BBC2 quiz show presented and in the wall round of the 14th episode aired on 28 November, one of the teams faced the challenge of matching words associated with one another.

As one team member for Mothers Ruined guessed one set correct with the four words, spot, stain, blot and scar, fans of the show with scars were left ‘completely shocked’ that the caption describing the set was ‘marks of shame’.

Apology: Only Connect presenter Victoria Cohen has been forced to make an apology after her show described scars as ‘marks of shame’ following a complaint from a charity

‘Marks of shame’: The broadcaster who hosts the popular BBC2 quiz show presented and in the wall round one of the teams faced the challenge of associating four words

British charity Changing Faces represents children, young people and adults who have a ‘visible difference’ to the face.

They wrote on their Twitter page about the episode: ‘Dear @BBC & @OnlyConnectQuiz . We were disappointed and shocked to see scars described as “marks of shame” on your show recently. There is #NoShame in having a scar. 

‘What is a shame is that we’re still perpetuating the myth that there’s something wrong with visible differences like scars. We hope you will commit to learning about how to better represent those with visible differences.’ 

In response to the complaints, Victoria took to her own social media platform to issue a statement.

Controversy: As one team member for Mothers Ruined guessed one set correct with the four words, spot, stain, blot and scar, fans of the show with scars were left ‘completely shocked’ that the caption describing the set was ‘marks of shame’ – leaving Victoria forced to apologise

‘Broadly I don’t tend to use Twitter for series things as I’m a bit nervous of it, for all the obvious reasons, but right now it’s the quickest way to get a message out about something that needs urgent correcting!’, she wrote on Wednesday evening.

‘On an episode of Only Connect a couple of weeks ago, we had a wall category which was ‘spot, stain, blot, scar’ – and the on-screen caption was “marks of shame”.

‘I didn’t know that, the captions aren’t on when I see the questions in advance. ‘I totally see how the question-writer’s mind was working: They’re using a figurative meaning of “scar”, a lower dictionary definition (as in, a scar on someone’s reputation etc).

‘HOWEVER this opens the door to the RIDICULOUS and AWFUL idea that a literal. visual scar on the face or body of a person is somehow shameful.

Gameshow: The 14th episode aired on 28 November saw teams Mothers Ruined and Cryptic go head-to-head in various quiz-show rounds

Hostess: In response to the complaints, Victoria, who has hosted the show since  2008, took to her own social media platform to issue a statement

‘I hope anyone who’s ever watched out programme would know that this is the *very opposite* of what we would think; an idea utterly alien to our little universe and our value system.

‘We stand proudly at odds with that kind of nonsense! ‘We REVEL in the beautiful variety of the human condition.

‘We might just as well have put up a caption that suggest we don’t hold with book learnin’, hate speaking foreign languages and think maths is for d***s.

‘Shocking’: Charity Changing Faces wrote on their Twitter page about the ‘shocking’ episode: ‘Dear @BBC & @OnlyConnectQuiz . We were disappointed and shocked to see scars described as “marks of shame” on your show recently. There is #NoShame in having a scar’

‘Then again, we’re also meant to be standard bearers for nuance and deep thinking. We’re not meant to be people who use language lazily or fail to notice possible implications.

‘I’m extremely embarrassed, personally, that the show made itself open to that kind of reading.

‘I’ll leave it to the programme and channel to figure out the best way of stating somewhere more formal than Twitter that this was a mistake and very very very much not what we stand for, or think.

‘But I just wanted to get a personal clarification out as soon as I’m made aware of it.’ 

MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.

Scandal: Victoria said she is ‘extremely embarrassed’ that the show ‘made itself open to that kind of reading’